Dangling workers rescued from Manhattan skyscraper

Two maintenance workers were left stranded for about 90 minutes near the top of a New York City skyscraper.

They were were stuck yesterday afternoon at the 200m Hearst building in Manhattan, after their motorised scaffold broke down.

Fire department officials say workers cut open windows on the 44th floor and pulled the men inside to safety. The workers and a firefighter moved slowly from the scaffold to the opening.

The fire department says it appears one of the scaffold’s three motors failed. The men were on either side of the scaffold, communicating with firefighters on the roof of the 46-storey building for about an hour and a half before they were rescued.

The Hearst Tower is the headquarters of the Hearst Corporation, and the first green high-rise office building in the city.

AP